DESIGN THINKING

April 12, 2016

Doug Wightman, PhD

Design Thinking Defined

Design thinking is "...a human-

centered approach to

innovation that draws from the

designer's toolkit to integrate

the needs of people, the

possibilities of technology, and

the requirements for business

success."Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO

Sources: Stanford d.school Methods (http://dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods/), IDEO Design Kit (www.designkit.org)

"The methodology commonly referred to as design thinking is a provenand repeatable problem-solving protocol that any business or profession can employ to achieve extraordinary results."

Google X

"Moonshots" for transformative,

factor of ten improvements.

"10x Is Often Easier Than 10%"

Astro Teller, 'Captain of Moonshots'

Google + Google X

Core Competency: Mining Big Data

Two Approaches

1. Machine learning

2. Signal discovery Design Thinking

– Interviews

– User observation

– Data analysis

• Low-cost prototyping

• Thousands of experiments per day

Objective

Learn to lead effective brainstorming sessions

Design Thinking is Learned Through Experience

To learn Design Thinking, you must experience it.

This is not a classroom, it is a creative lab.

Design Thinking Framework

Source: Stanford d.school

Empathize

Define

Ideate

Prototype

Test

1. Observe2. Engage3. Immerse

1. Needfinding2. Point of View (POV)

1. Brainstorm2. Bodystorm

1. Fail Quickly2. Start Conversations3. Bias Towards Action

1. With Users2. To Learn and Refine

Brainstorming Process

1. Challenge

2. Brainstorm

3. Selection

Brainstorming Teams

1. Teams of five or six participants

2. Minimize number of co-workers

3. Maximize diversity of perspectives

Brainstorming Rules

1. One conversation at a time

2. Go for quantity

3. Headline

4. Build on the ideas of others

5. Encourage wild ideas

6. Be visual

7. Stay on topic

8. Defer judgement - no blocking

Source: Stanford d.school

Brainstorm #1

Challenge: Improve online payments for kids

Brainstorm 10 minutes

Selection 5 minutes

Presentation 5 minutes

Brainstorming Rules

1. One conversation at a time

2. Go for quantity

3. Headline

4. Build on the ideas of others

5. Encourage wild ideas

6. Be visual

7. Stay on topic

8. Defer judgement - no blocking

Source: Stanford d.school

Brainstorm #1 Debrief

1. What worked?

2. What was most challenging?

How Does Design Relate to Other Fields?

Source: Charles Owen (2006)

Wicked Problems

"The search for scientific bases for confronting problems of social policy is bound to fail, because of the nature of these problems. They are 'wicked' problems, whereas science has developed to deal with 'tame' problems. Policy problems cannot be definitively described."

H. Rittel, M. Webber (1973)

Wicked Problems in Design Thinking R. Buchanan (1992)

Characteristics of Wicked Problems:

1. The problem is not understood until after the formulation of a solution

2. Wicked problems have no stopping rule

3. Solutions to wicked problems are not right or wrong

4. Every wicked problem is essentially novel and unique

5. Every solution to a wicked problem is a 'one shot operation'

6. Wicked problems have no given alternative solutionsJ. Conklin (2006)

Example Wicked Brainstorm

Challenge: Solve climate change

1. Challenge

2. Point of View (POV)

3. How-Might-We

2. Brainstorm

3. Selection

Brainstorming Process

Point of View (POV)

User + Insight + Need

"user X needs to Y because Z"

Actionable POV Reframing:

"user X needs to Y because Z"

How-Might-We

1. Short question(s)

2. Seed ideation

3. Build upon POVs

Brainstorm #2 Team Formation

1. Teams of five or six participants

2. Minimize overlap from previous brainstorms

Brainstorm #2

Challenge: Design a music service for teenagers

POV: Thirteen-year-old girl living in a small town needs to hear more than classic rock on the radio because she loses her mind when travelling with her family.

How-might-we: Enable her to find her favourite music?

Brainstorm 10 minutes

Selection 5 minutes

Presentation 5 minutes

Brainstorm #2 Debrief

1. Was this brainstorm more collaborative?

2. Do you think a thirteen-year-old-girl could design a

better solution?

Innovation Versus Invention

XUUK EyeBox

• 10x less expensive!

Who will buy it?

• Display networks?

• Researchers?

From the Globe & Mail (Nov 20, 2011)

"What can Canada learn about innovation from the career of Steve Jobs? I think there are two important lessons that we could take away.

The first lesson is that commercial success and impact is more about innovation than about invention. Invention is the creation of some new-to-the-world technology. …It can be pretty earth-shattering when it is electricity or insulin. But it can be pretty irrelevant when it is a technology in search of a user.

The second lesson is that successful innovation… entails starting with users, obsessing about their experience, and being dedicated to creating unique improvements to it that delight them, even if they never asked for or expect them."

From Mindsets to Mindshifts

"When students are developing a human-centered

mindset they move beyond egocentric views of the

world and no longer design based on their own needs,

desires, experiences or preferences"S. Goldman et al. (2012)

Design Thinking is Interdisciplinary

Rationalistic versus Design approaches

• Rationalistic: Model people as cognitive machines

• Design: Focus on interactions between people and

environment

We need "T-shaped" ways of understanding and

working

• Vertical bar: Domain expertise

• Horizontal bar: Design thinkingTerry Winograd (2006)

Needfinding at Google

Challenge: Make the Internet faster

POV: A father needs to read the news before his daughter

wakes up because otherwise he won't know what is

happening in the world.

How-Might-We: Load news webpages faster?

Design Thinking Framework - Summarized

Source: Stanford d.school

Empathize

Define

Ideate

Prototype

Test

"To create meaningful innovations, you need to know your users and care about their lives."

"Framing the right problem is the only way

to create the right solution."

"It's not about coming up with the 'right' idea,

it's about generating the broadest range of

possibilities."

"Build to thinkand test to learn."

"Testing is an opportunity to learn about your solution and your user."

Conclusion

"Design thinking is neither art nor science nor religion.

It is the capacity, ultimately, for integrative thinking."Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO

Thank You!

Queen’s Innovation and Design Thinking Program

April 21 to 22 in Toronto

Interested in registering?

Visit the Queen’s booth to learn more

Phone: 1.888.393.2338 (1.613.533.2371)

E-mail: execed@queensu.ca

Website: ssb.ca/execed